Category: Disability

Journal – January 2016 (Guernsey Holiday)

So here we go with another year – hopefully my final one in Devon, as we feel determined to make the move to London happen now after all the delays.

But to start with, 2016 has got off to a fun start, because I’ve visited my best mate in Guernsey again, the first time I’ve seen him since I was Best Man at his wedding last September. These are my first journal entries since that event, as there was nothing else of interest to write about for the last few months of 2015.

So I hope you enjoy reading about my little holiday – including an awkward bus trip, the latest Star Wars film and a games night, among other things – plus a few other updates.

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Journal – September 2015 (Guernsey Best Man)

This month has seen a big event that I’ve been looking forward to for a while – my best mate’s wedding in Guernsey, where I was one of two best men with his cousin. It was a wonderful occasion in a beautiful location, and it’s the first time I’ve given a public speech as well. So this post is mainly about that, but I also met another friend the week before, I’ve posted my first ever vlog on Youtube, and there have been one or two things to mention from home too.

So I hope you enjoy going through everything here, including some of the photos and video footage that I was able to capture on my new iPhone 6, and a few other photos that people took of me.

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Interacting With Disabled People #EndTheAwkward

This post relates to a video I’ve recorded for Scope’s End The Awkward campaign, giving advice about interacting with disabled people. Scope explain things far better than I do – I’m just giving my own perspective on things here – so I strongly suggest looking at their website and videos. But I hope you enjoy my post on the subject as well.

In general you just need to be friendly and respectful, and treat each disabled person as a person first and foremost, just like you would with anybody you meet. Don’t make assumptions about how they feel or what they can do, be tactful about any questions you ask so you don’t get too personal, and offer to help instead of forcing it on them. And don’t worry if you do make an innocent mistake. These things happen. Nobody’s perfect, and nobody’s expecting you to be. We do understand if you feel awkward around us – all we want to get across is that you don’t need to feel that way. 🙂

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Journal – April-May 2015

Time for a couple more journal entries, just one per month on this occasion so I’ve bundled them together. But there’s been plenty going on, including a farewell dinner for a colleague who had recently left, meeting a friend’s new baby, and another visit by our builder to get some work done. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – March 2015

Welcome to my next set of journal entries. This has been quite an eventful month, including a colleague retiring, electoral work, our builder visiting, a friend’s relationship ending, my best mate’s wedding preparations continuing, and my TV explorations with a new streaming box. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – December 2014

Welcome to my final journal entry of the year. I’ve skipped several months since the last post because it’s been a very uneventful year overall. But things look set to be a lot busier in 2015, with my best mate’s wedding and other stuff. So here’s my Christmas roundup for the time being, with the usual mix of updates about home, work and friends. I know it’s short, but I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – July 2014

Here’s another brief journal entry from what is proving to be a very quiet year, along with a couple of jokes I’ve been sent to pad things out a bit. June was very uneventful, so I’ve waited until now before writing another update, talking about a bit of building work, some great news from a friend of mine that will give me a lot more to do next year, and the sad passing of a hugely popular comedian. So I’m sorry this is quite short, but I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – May 2014

If you’ve been following these journal posts for a while then (a) thank you so much and (b) no, you’re not missing anything, there really has been a 5-month gap.

I didn’t write any journal entries for the first part of this year, as nothing happened that was of any interest. Our planned move to London still hasn’t gone ahead, as for various reasons we haven’t been able to get much work done on our current house before we can sell it, which has been unavoidable but frustrating. And there hasn’t been a lot else going on either.

This month, however, I have met up with some friends, I’ve got some updates from work, and we’ve had devastating weather that completely destroyed a vital artery of Devon’s railway network. So that’s given me a variety of bits and pieces to mention here. And as always, I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – July-August 2013

Here we go with another set of journal entries. There wasn’t anything to write about during June, so this post covers July and August instead, during which I’ve had another work-related visit to Bristol, met my friends in Exeter and celebrated my birthday. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – April 2013

Welcome to my next set of journal entries. This month my mother and I made another trip up to London for Easter, although we didn’t end up doing a great deal, and our plans for moving have taken another step forward. Plus there are some more jokes that were sent to me, and there have been a couple of much less cheerful news stories dominating the headlines. So I hope you find this interesting as always.

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